Wife, Mother, Teacher, Friend. Aspiring to always be better than I was yesterday. This is the story of my life...

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

He is So Special...

Brodie. My dear Brodie. If you have ever met this special
dog, you know he is “special”. It has been quite a saga around here with that
sweet, lovable, mutt!

Here is the quick back story: So, on Saturday, we went to
Hutto for our annual 4th of July bash. When we got home Sunday
morning, we noticed that Brodie was acting a bit lethargic. He was timid and
uncomfortable. He was just not too normal…especially for him. We pampered him a
bit, and headed out to Arlington for the day.
On Monday, he was still acting strange, but seemed a bit better. Then,
he jumped off the bed and winced and refused to move much after that.

I place a panic call to a girlfriend of mine who works at
the local vet clinic. She said to bring him in and I was there in no time.
After a brief hour wait, I was able to see the vet. He examines Brodie and
decides it is one of two things. Brodie either has bladder stones {which will
need surgery to fix} or he has a hurt back {no surgery, but pretty
painful}. He decides to give Brodie
X-Rays. Another brief hour wait… the
doctor calls ME back to the X-Ray room to see the results. Everything in my
heart sinks. {Inner thought: If I am being called back, this has to be bad}.
The doctor tells me that he does NOT have bladder stones, that he does indeed
have a hurt back. Here is why… the doctor starts the conversation with, “Brodie
is…very… special.” {Inner thought: Yes, thank you. This is not new information,
but it is still a gut punch when your doctor tells you that your first child
dog is “special”.} It turns out that {probably due to inbreeding} Brodie has extra vertebrae. Dogs SHOULD
have 7; Brodie has 8. The extra vertebra is causing the others to compress and
be uncomfortable. To add to that, he also is bow-legged and (in the doctor’s
words) has stilts for legs. He said, “hands down, top 3 most “special” Boston
Terrier he has met. They don’t get much more unique than this dog”.

So, what is the verdict? I was able to take him home after a
shot of morphine and a shot of steroids. He was high all afternoon yesterday.
He slept in a drug-induced coma yesterday. He was wobbly, and, well… stoned out
of his mind. He is WORLDS better this morning. He was able to shake his head.
He took his medicine with the help of my little Buddy this morning. He was walking
a bit faster. Let’s see how he gets after his pain killers kick in this
morning. For now, he is on pain killers and steroids. He is also on anti-inflammatories indefinitely.

I know this is really only a comical story if you know
Brodie. The doctor told us NOTHING new. I went in to the vet knowing he was a
special-ed dog. I knew he has strange extremities. I know God loves him a bit
extra… but, it was still a bit of a gut-punch to have all of those known
thoughts confirmed.